Sessions : Immaculate Teahupo’o

Over the course of several days in October, Tahiti’s Teahupo’o produced big, flawless conditions for a collection of local and visiting pros hungry to put on a tube riding clinic.

When it comes to critical waves like Tahiti’s Teahupo’o, it’s the weather conditions that greet a swell that make all the difference. At a small beachbreak, for instance, a steady onshore means nothing more than a few more opportunities for airs. At a mellow pointbreak, a crosswind is just annoying. But at Chopes, such uncooperative conditions can mean the difference between glory and getting skunked.

We focus on glory around here, so let’s talk about what happened over the course of several days this past October, when solid swell and flawless wind and weather coalesced at Teahupo’o to produce a series of sessions we won’t soon forget.

On hand were the usual suspects, like locals Matahi Drollet and Matehau Tetopata, who together have lately been absolutely dominating on the best days out at Teahupo’o. Then there were regular visitors, like Nathan Florence and Koa Rothman – two Hawaiians who know a thing or two about critical left-hand reef breaks.

But there were also fresh faces, like Brett Barley, who flew across the world from his home island of the Outer Banks, in North Carolina, USA. Barley, a goofyfoot, loves nothing more than big lefts, so it was no surprise to our filmer, Ryan Moss, and photographer, Domenic Mosqueira, to see Barley fit right in amongst the Teahupo’o veterans. All together, this crew put on a serious show – the best of which you have to see, right now, in the edit above.